the megaphone

Megaphones are amazing. For nearly as long as we have organized into large groups, we have rolled materials into tubes and spoken into them to help carry our voices to the back of the audience. Wit… [more]

help the person next to you

What kind of man makes it through Hell Week? That’s hard to say. But I do know—generally—who won’t make it. There are a dozen types that fail: the weight-lifting meatheads who think th… [more]

Book Report - Rilke's Book of Hours

I've been trying to read more poetry this year. Which has honestly been refreshing. I dove into Rilke after re-watching JoJo Rabbit^more]

Some Thoughts on Engineering Leaderhip

So this article started as a thread of tweets. I want to expand on it, so I am going to quote all the tweets here and the… [more]

Last Lectures

Way back in my year end review for 2021 I wrote,

As part of that effort I’ve worked to build a culture in engineerin… [more]

What Makes a Team Lead Great?

“Well, don’t you think that you as the commander have an obligation to create a vision for your command?” It was more of a statement than a question. “No, I feel that my job as the com… [more]

The infinite power of people

This afternoon I was reading a theological book (Jacob: a brief theological introduction by Deidre Nicole Green… [more]

Book Review-A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller

Review: A million miles in a thousand years

This was a fun one. It’s nominally cycling and philosophy and discussions of story so you know it’s going to be one I like.^more]

Book Review-Road to Valor

Review of "The Road to Valor" by Aili McConnon & Andres McConnon

I have love cycling, a fact you should be aware of if you intend to stick around here. Coupled with my love for… [more]

Some thoughts inspired by "Toward peer review as a group engagement"

These are rough thoughts and should be taken as such. Think of them more as the interesting points that deserve thought in a context that the author of the paper (Andrea Bonaccorsi) was not specifi… [more]

Encourage teams to take risks

In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or to step back into safety.

— Abraham Maslow

This last Sunday we went on a light hik… [more]

Quote: Simple. Correct. fast.

When you are faced with these problems, you must seek out the simplest way they can be solved. This may be difficult to do: perhaps the problem is too large, or perhaps you were act… [more]

Direct Feedback

Jobs’s taste for merciless criticism was notorious; Ive recalled that, years ago, after seeing colleagues crushed, he protested. Jobs replied, “Why would you be vague?,&rd… [more]

On Bikesheds

The really, really short answer is that you should not. The somewhat longer answer is that just because you are capable of building a bikeshed does not mean you should stop others from… [more]

you’re a journeyman

"The secret is never forgetting that you’re a journeyman actor and that nothing is your final thing, nothing is your greatest thing, nothing is your worst thing. I still consider … [more]

Vetting Information you read on the internet

Hi friends!

I realized that because of the certain set of skills I have been honing at work for the last decade I have some quick ways of vetting websites for content accuracy that the averag… [more]

ambition. life's work.

Ambition, I have come to believe, is the most primal and sacred fundament of our being. To feel ambition and to act upon it is to embrace the unique calling of our souls. Not … [more]

Now.

A quick quote to tide you over until the big write up lands...

“Everything is instant gratification and the problem is too many people have applied that instant gratificat… [more]

Being Senior Part 1- the books and data

This is just a quick post to throw up the books I quoted from and a link to the data for anyone who attended my presentation at Utah JS Conference 2016 today. I am putting down my thoughts in a lon… [more]

people and connections

"I define connection as the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; and when they can give and receive without judgement; and when they derive suste… [more]

ambition. life's work.

Ambition, I have come to believe, is the most primal and sacred fundament of our being. To feel ambition and to act upon it is to embrace the unique calling of our souls. Not to act up… [more]

begin it

"Then indecision brings its own delays, 
And days are lost lamenting over lost days. 
Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute; 
What you can do, or dream you can do, begin it;… [more]

Seeing and Speaking

I was reading this wonderful article from ia and it occurred to me that jargon and seeing are related to each other.

We know from resear… [more]

Getting Lost and Happiness

On the one hand, we are hard-wired to focus more on negative things. But at the same time, we are also all hard-wired to be seeking a sense of happiness and the desire to flourish,… [more]

Education, Money and Happiness

There are three things, once one’s basic needs are satisfied, that academic literature points to as the ingredients for happiness: having meaningful social relationships, being good at… [more]

Quote: How Fiction Ruined Love

"Films like When Harry Met Sally . . .  (1989) and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) are typical in centering the action entirely on the run-up to the start of a relationship. But f… [more]